I Wanna Be A Sheepdog! Part II

Day 2: The second day was structured very much like the first. I was proudly sporting bruises and mat-burns at the gym. My sore body was outweighed by my good mood and my comfort level had increased at least two notches. The afternoon at the range was even more fun than the first day thanks to my ugly new long johns and genius handwarmers, which were shoved in my pockets with my hands around them every moment I wasn’t holding my gun (shout out to whoever invented those pocket-warmies – they are amazing). That day, I was convinced those magic little hand warmers were the best invention ever and shared them with my new comrades, all of whom turned out to be wicked cool ladies and I am incredibly grateful for having had the chance to meet them.

Days 3 & 4: This was Nik’s turn for the LEO course. I took the liberty of sleeping in and staying nice and cozy in our hotel room for most of the day…also, because he had the car.

Day 5: This was the Carbine Course we both enrolled in…. I didn’t know exactly what I was signing up for, but we were told there were no prerequisites for the class and I wanted to learn. Essentially, it was a one-day course on the outdoor gun range with your own long-barreled rifle. While I assumed the participants would mostly be male, I did not anticipate being the only female in the course. At least I wasn’t the only novice. Anyone who had fired less than a few hundred rounds through their rifles stayed on one side of the range in the newbie group so the instructors could provide extra assistance when it was needed.

I tend to get very self-conscious and easily flustered in front of my husband during activities where he is particularly proficient; self-defense and firearms are right there at the top of the list. To his credit, he is empathetic to this and stayed as far away from me as humanly possible during the entire Carbine course. We practiced countless drills and I learned so much in that course that I definitely did feel more confident with my rifle at the end of it. However, I could probably take that same course again ten times over and still learn more information each time.

Nik and I were invited to stay for their civilian Level I response class the following day (it was the identical class that we had each taken, except it wasn’t geared specifically toward women or police officers). We both jumped at the chance…well, he calmly accepted the invitation while I was bouncing like Tigger on the inside.

Day 6: Sheepdog Level I Training. This day also began at the dojo. Again, my husband kept his distance from me, not wanting to interfere with my training and make me any more anxious than I already was; oddly, I’m slightly more comfortable in front of strangers in certain situations…probably because they have no idea who I am and I will “never see them again in my life,” or so my mother always said.

I was absurdly grateful that I had attended the Women’s Level I training earlier that week so I had an idea of what to expect…more like a preview, really. The primary differences between the two courses were a) there were perhaps only five or so other females in this course, and b) it was substantially more intense. This, in turn, meant that I was grappling with individuals with vastly different body types than I had earlier that week. Most of them outweighed me (thankfully), but that meant they had a lot more muscle (i.e. I now had to work a lot harder). Consequently, I felt like I had to pee much more often because, as someone who has in the past “leaked” when she sneezed, I was now completely terrified of having an accident, however unlikely.

Despite having spent half the time running to the restroom, I’m certain I got just as good of a workout that day as I had the other days spent on the mat. Even though I was tired and sweaty, I was sad when lunchtime came around (which is incredibly out of character for me) because that meant Nik and I had to return home.

In spite of my sore muscles and insecurities, I had the best “vacation” taking the Sheepdog courses. I earned my new Sheepdog T-shirt with buckets of sweat and got my very own 5” Gerber combat fighting knife…now I just need to learn how to properly use it. I wholeheartedly recommend the Sheepdog Response to anyone even remotely interested in being “harder to kill” (click their link here) … I also recommend you practice your Kegels before you go.

Special thanks to the Sheepdogs I got to meet (Tim, Sarah, Dennis, Travis L., Travis J., Jethro, and Tara) as well as ALL of the folks at Sheepdog Response that I didn’t get to meet. I think every single one of you is awesome. If you ever want to come to Arizona, give us a call.

Original Post 11/2020